Coaches' Corner

Karapiro Rowing: Coaches’ Corner 24 November 2020 Coaches’ Corner is a newsletter designed for communicating with coaches regarding topical developments and important regatta related information. Please ensure that all your coaches have access to this newsletter. To add coaches to our database, please email details to Victoria Jantke [email protected] 24 November newsletter content includes: Covid-19 Coxswain weigh-in Coxswain life jackets Coxswain weights Coxswain seats Pre-regatta safety briefings Health & Safety of rowers Medical Substitutions Medical reinstatements Coaches passes / parking Lost items On-water Training times for Club Regatta Contact details With the regatta season now started Karapiro Rowing will be issuing a newsletter before each regatta for the remainder of the 2020/2021 rowing season. These newsletters focus on matters of interest for athletes, coaches and spectators. COVID 19 While we are currently at Level 1 a reminder of the Covid protocols that apply for rowing regattas at Lake Karapiro. When you attend regattas, please ensure that you have a supply of masks for all of your athletes and coaches. This is to ensure, that if the country moves quickly to a higher alert level, that you are prepared. We suggest that you have these as a standard item accompanying your first aid kits. • Keep a safe distance from people you don’t know while you are out and about at the regatta • Keep up good hand washing practices, using soap and water for at least 20 seconds, and drying thoroughly. • Cough and sneeze into your elbow. • Keep surfaces clean. • Continue tracking where you have been and who you have seen to help contact tracing if required. You can use your NZ COVID Tracer app to record Karapiro Rowing’s QR code will be displayed on the way from the car park, on the Sir Don Rowlands Centre, Judges Tower, toilet blocks and in spectator tents. 1 COXSWAIN WEIGH-IN Karapiro Rowing has made some changes to the Coxswain weigh-in procedure that will apply up until the completion of the North Island Rowing Championships Regatta. These changes will not apply to the Aon Junior Regatta, North Island Secondary School Championships or the Maadi Cup as they are run under different rules. The regatta conditions have been updated to state that coxswains must weigh-in for each and every race before they go onto the water and no more than 1 hour and no less than 20 minutes before the advertised start time of their race. The weigh-in area will be in the Karapiro Rowing tent located adjacent to the Cambridge Rowing Club in the boat park. As coxswains head down to the launching pontoons, they go to the weigh-in tent and go to either of the weigh stations, give the attendant their name and the race and the crew they are in. They will be weighed as in the past and their weight and deadweight recorded. No forms to fill in as in previous years. Coxswains must bring the life jacket they intend to wear during their race with them when they come to weigh- in. They will be able to wear the life jacket during weigh-in but it will be inspected to confirm it is fit for purpose. Refer below for further information on coxswain life jackets. If after a race they are selected to be spot checked, then only the deadweight will be weighed. If there is a variance between the deadweight and the recorded weight, then the crew shall be excluded from the results. Part of the reason for this change is to eliminate the need for both coxswains and regatta officials to turn up between 5.30 and 6.30am (depending on regatta start time) to weigh in. There are however, a couple of hooks in the changes. Coaches are going to have to ensure that they have their coxswains recorded correctly in the entries and that substitutions have been done well in advance (60 minutes as required by the conditions) or else their coxswains will be held up. If a coxswain is not correct and elects to row (heats), this will be treated as an undeclared substitution and we will record the substitution in the database and invoice the club/school accordingly. That coxswain will then be the coxswain on record for that crew. If this situation arises in finals, then the crew will not be allowed to launch, or race. We believe these changes will make the whole process quicker and stress free. COXSWAIN LIFE JACKETS At the Memorial Regatta, Karapiro Rowing noted a lot of coxswain life jackets that were not fit for purpose. Coxswains life jackets must: • Wear a New Zealand Standards (5823:2005) approved life jacket • Be suitable for the coxswain’s size and age and/or weight • Be worn outside all clothing • Have in a legible state, the manufacturers label and certification intact • Be in good state of repair. Check for visible signs of wear or damage by ensuring that there are no rips, tears or holes; that the seams are securely sewn; and that the fabric, straps and hardware are still strong. The major concern at the Memorial Regatta was that coxswains were wearing very old lifejackets and/or they were far too big for the coxswains. 2 COXSWAINS WEIGHTS Deadweight – Rule 7 of the NZ Rules of Racing states that deadweight needs to be placed as close as possible to the coxswain. It should not be connected to the coxswain or be of a material that impedes their exit from the boat. In case of a bow coxed boat it should not be placed in front of the coxswain. This last requirement has a number of practical difficulties given the construction of some boats does not provide an easy alternative option for placing weights in a boat. Common sense needs to apply when placing weights in boats. Below are two pictures of weights taken at the club regatta. The weights tied together in the first picture are acceptable but the loose strap in the second picture is a hazard for the coxswain if that strap was to inadvertently be caught around their body in a capsize situation. Putting tied weights in a sealed bag would be preferable. COXSWAINS SEATS Rule 29 of the NZ Rules of Racing requires a fixed bulkhead or firm foot-stop be provided a suitable distance from the backrest to suit the coxswain’s height so that they can push themselves clear of the cockpit easily from a bow coxed boat. Given the height of a lot of coxswains I have seen this season many of them cannot rest their feet against the bulkhead. You need to insert a suitable size foot-stop (polystyrene block) into your bow coxed boats where this is the case. This will be closely monitored at the Club regatta and where there is not a suitable foot-stop your boat will be considered non-compliant until rectified. 3 PRE-REGATTA SAFETY BRIEFINGS One of the conditions for this regatta is that it is a pre-requisite to participation in the racing that all entrant entities attend the pre-regatta safety briefing which will be held one hour before the start of the first race of the regatta in front of the Boat Marshals Hut in the Boat Park. Non-attendance by a representative of an entrant entity to attend this briefing will result in exclusion from racing at the regatta. In the past, Karapiro Rowing gave one-off safety briefings to representatives of entrant entities who did not attend the pre-regatta safety briefing. A 5-minute summary of a 15-minute safety briefing is no longer considered appropriate given that safety and fairness underpin all rowing regattas managed by Karapiro Rowing. HEALTH & SAFETY OF ROWERS When crews are entered for any regatta at Lake Karapiro, information is supplied to Karapiro Rowing Inc. on pre-existing medical conditions of competing athletes. The accuracy of this information is incredibly important as the information is passed confidentially to our contracted event medics. Special daysheets are prepared for the event medics that record the pre-existing medical condition of each athlete competing. This information can be easily retrieved should there be an incident during a race. Daysheets used by regatta officials also identify crews that have athletes with pre-existing medical conditions (by recording an * next to the crew) so race officials can monitor that crew during racing at the regatta. Daysheets used by the regatta officials do not record the name of the athlete or the pre-existing medical condition in order to protect the athlete’s privacy. Please ensure the correct pre-existing medical information is passed to your coach or the person responsible for making crew entries for Lake Karapiro regattas. In the case where an athlete is diagnosed with a medical condition after the close of entries, the person responsible for the crew shall submit that information to Regatta Control at least 60 minutes before the advertised starting time of the first race of the regatta. As per the conditions for this regatta failure to submit pre-existing medical conditions shall result in the club/school being levied a monetary penalty of $250 plus GST for each and every non-disclosure. This season clubs/schools who have athletes compete and subsequently require medical assistance due to a pre-existing illness or injury will be brought to the attention of the Karapiro Rowing Safety Officer and followed up with the athlete’s club/school. If this medical event involves a pre-existing medical condition not disclosed to Karapiro Rowing, then the club/school that submitted the entry shall be levied a monetary fine of $500 plus GST and shall be disqualified from competition for the remainder of the regatta.

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